Dreams and Nightmares
by lara-surreality
Summary: Zechs, Treize, a bit of angst, a bit of fluff.


**And After...**

by Lara  
March 2002

**Do not archive, translate or otherwise use this fic without permission.** You are welcome to link to this page.

This is a work of amateur fiction and does not intend to infringe on the rights of Sunrise, Sotsu Agency, Asahi TV, and Bandai Visuals. No profit is being made.

* * *

Something was amiss.

There was no definite reason for feeling unsettled, only a vague perception of something being not quite as it should be. But still it was strong enough to wake Treize. In the past he would have continued sleeping no matter what was going on around him. During his time with OZ time for rest had sometimes been hard to find, and he had gotten used to napping on the settee in his office eventually. But ever since the war was over he had become accustomed to being surrounded by peace and quiet during the night.

Shaking off the last remnants of sleep, Treize lay still and tried to figure out where that feeling of uneasiness had come from. He couldn′t hear any noises; the house was as silent as it should be expected at this time, which ruled out the possibility that Mariemeia was sleepwalking once again. She was doing it occasionally, and by now Treize was no longer surprised to find her curled up in his study or in the bathtub in the morning. No, everything was too silent for his daughter to be wandering around.

Maybe he had just been caught up in the remnants of some dream, Treize thought, closing his eyes and trying to return to sleep. But a moment later a soft murmur from his side made him return to wakefulness again.

"No... don′t..."

Treize finally realized what was wrong. Zechs had moved away from him, a rather unusual thing since his lover would normally remain curled against him all night. They both had found that resting in each other′s arms was the most comfortable way to sleep because it was a reassurance that the other was really here.

"Not that..." Zechs murmured, shifting restlessly beneath the sheets, almost as if he were trying to get away from something. "Please..." Another nightmare; they were becoming less frequent lately, but they still troubled Zechs′ sleep far too often. Too many memories were still haunting his mind, and it would take time until they all finally settled down. Treize was having the same problem, but for him nowhere nearly as bad as Zechs.

"Milliard..." Reaching for the younger man′s shoulder, Treize quietly called his name a few times. "Wake up, Milliard, it is just a bad dream..." There was no use in trying to talk Zechs out of the nightmare without waking him; Treize had attempted that approach before, and the only result had been that Zechs had slept quietly for some minutes before the dream was back.

Suddenly there was a small gasp and Zechs sat up almost fully, the tension in his body visible even in the semi-darkness of curtain-blocked moonlight. For a moment he stayed absolutely still, then he relaxed again.

"It was a nightmare, Milliard," Treize repeated once again, cautiously studying Zechs to make sure he truly was awake and out of that dream′s grasp.

Drawing a deep breath, Zechs looked at him. "It seemed so real..." he whispered, slowly lying down again and moving closer immediately. Treize willingly shifted a little to make room on his pillow and Zechs carefully nestled close, sighing softly when Treize′s arms came around him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Treize asked quietly as he placed a kiss on Zechs′ forehead to calm him further. He could feel the other man′s breathing brush over his skin, and it was still faster than normal.

Resting his head against Treize′s shoulder, Zechs stayed silent for a few seconds before answering. "I don′t really remember much... it′s all slipping from my mind."

"Then don′t think about it. This was just a dream." Raising his hand a little, Treize began to stroke Zechs′ hair, something that almost always helped to relax the younger man. As if on cue Zechs snuggled a little closer and tucked his head beneath Treize′s chin. It had been their favorite sleeping position when they had begun to share a bed during the night. Zechs had still been somewhat smaller than Treize at that time, so it had come rather naturally, and the habit of resting like this had remained.

"I′m sorry I woke you." A soft kiss was placed in the hollow of Treize′s throat, and he tightened his hold on Zechs a little.

"It is not your fault if you dream," he told his lover quietly, his fingers still slowly combing through long blond hair. If only he knew how to stop those nightmares from haunting Zechs, then things would be much easier. But the human mind worked in strange ways sometimes, and all that was left for Treize to do was to calm Zechs whenever he woke, shaking from the impact the dreams had had on him.

Zechs sighed, and Treize could feel him nod lightly. "Still you should be sleeping," he said, raising his head to place a quite tired kiss on Treize′s lips.

"We both should be sleeping," he corrected with a smile as he reached out to tuck some stray strands of white blond hair back behind Zechs′ ears.

"You are right..." Zechs′ head came to rest on Treize′s chest again as he shifted his position a little to make himself comfortable.

"Of course I am right," Treize returned as he closed his eyes again and concentrated on the sound of Zechs′ breathing and the warm feeling of his body. Sleep seemed so tempting now that Zechs was in his arms.

A soft snort could be heard. "And you wonder why people call you arrogant..."

"Mhmm... Love you too... Sleep well..."

Zechs made a quiet sound of agreement and managed to snuggle a little closer still before settling down. To have him here was so comforting, so reassuring for Treize, and it would probably never cease to amaze him how it could be possible that he should be blessed with someone like the blond man he held in his arms. And the last thought he had before he drifted off into sleep was that life could not possibly be better than this.


End file.
